Qatar IT sector, how 2018 will be ?

As we have already reached the last day in 2017, it is time to look back the year passing by and look forward to 2018.

2017 has been spectacular for Qatar IT sector, with many positives and few negatives. The unjustified siege on Qatar by some countries affected Qatar’s IT sectors more positively, contrary to what we all thought. Let us check how.

1- Many IT products and services companies operated from neighboring countries had to move to Qatar because of blockade, it created a boom in the IT sector and created many jobs

2- Huge investment happened in the manufacturing sector because of the self-reliance push from government and citizens, and it created many opportunities for IT companies.

3- New visa and sponsorships rules created influx of talents and entrepreneurs in Qatar, it also has created a level playing field and new confidence among professionals.

Other major development in the sector happened under the radar was the major telecom infrastructure push in Qatar. Fiber internet now available in most of the areas, 4G become standard. People regularly travel across the world agrees that there is no better country in the word which provide faster and more stable internet than Qatar.

Considering the above, and other major developments happening across the world, what can we expect in the sector in 2018, let us check.

1- Cloud, Cloud, everything on Cloud.

Everything will start moving to cloud, if not already moved. As internet is on race track in Qatar, companies not worried about slowness and disconnections anymore. Many Microsoft services ( it was all Microsoft servers in Qatar, haven’t they ?? ) moved to cloud because of aggressive marketing campaigns. On-premise exchange hosting mostly dead, Sharepoint is following the leader.

2- No big infra spending, not anymore

As everything started moving to cloud, there is nothing left on-premise. Employees just need a laptop/tab and an internet connection. High capacity APs are the only thing IT managers will look for in the future, it looks like.

3- No expensive software, not anymore

Open-source software had not very much welcomed in Qatar in the past, now the things have changed. Almost all databases and web-servers now being installed on open-source Linux. Mutli million spending on ERP and other softwares now available free in open-source, with well established companies to support.

4- Jobs

IT engineers really need to upgrade themselves. The traditional jobs – managing servers, maintaining PCs, switching routing and cabling – all going to get diminished in time. Staffs will do all their work using a Macbook and an internet connection to cloud. Jobs will only available for high-end programmers and cloud managers in the future. Be prepared !